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John Kurisko sits down to unpack the exact way he trades live every day—why he trusts momentum, how he reads the market’s “fuel” with stochastics, and why discipline beats hype. If you don’t know John, he’s the veteran behind DayTradingRadio, trading since the late ’90s and relentlessly teaching practical, rules-based setups built for today’s algo-driven tape. This interview matters because John isn’t theorizing—he’s calling entries and exits in real time and showing the receipts.
In this piece, you’ll learn John Kurisko’s high-probability “$20 trade” playbook: spotting true stochastic divergences, timing entries off the signal line, placing a defined stop (one tick beneath the stochastic low), and taking profits with a clear rotation plan. You’ll also see how he stacks confluence—quad rotations across timeframes, the 20/20 flag, and key moving averages—to avoid over-trading and only strike when the odds are real. By the end, you’ll know exactly when to sit on your hands, when to size up, and how to turn a simple, repeatable momentum edge into a daily routine.
John Kurisko Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
The Core Edge: Momentum Rotations You Can See
John keeps it simple: read momentum, wait for a clean rotation, and strike when price and stochastics line up. This section shows how he defines an actionable edge that repeats daily, so you don’t have to guess or predict news.
- Trade liquid names (index futures/large caps) during active sessions; avoid thin, choppy tickers.
- Plot stochastics (14,3,3 or similar) and a fast EMA/anchor MA (e.g., 20 EMA) on your execution timeframe.
- Only take trades when price action and the stochastic rotation point the same way (upturn for longs, downturn for shorts).
- Treat the 20 EMA as your “gravity line”: trend trades pull back toward it; counter-trend trades target it as first take-profit.
- No signal? No trade. If stochastics are mid-band with no slope, sit out.
The Setups: High-Probability Patterns He Repeats
You don’t need 20 strategies—just a few you can execute flawlessly. Below are the patterns John cycles through daily, with the precise rules that make them repeatable.
- Bull Flag to 20 EMA: After a clear push up, wait for a tight flag that holds above the 20 EMA; buy the break of the flag high; initial stop below flag low.
- Bear Flag Mirror: In downtrends, short the flag breakdown; stop above the flag high; first target is prior swing or the 20 EMA if counter-trend.
- Stochastic Divergence Fade: Price makes a lower low while stochastics put in a higher low (bullish divergence) or vice versa for shorts; enter on the stochastic cross in the direction of the divergence; stop just beyond the divergence pivot.
- Trendline Break + Retest: Draw a clean intraday trendline; trade the retest when stochastics rotate in your favor; invalidate if price re-enters the broken channel.
- Opening Drive Pullback: Let the first impulse set direction; wait for the first orderly pullback with supportive stochastics; enter on a break of the pullback structure, not during the freefall.
Timing the Entry: Stochastic “Green-Light” Rules
Entries are about timing, not prediction. Here’s how he turns a setup into an actual order using stochastics as a trigger, not a standalone system.
- Enter on the cross and slope of stochastics out of overbought/oversold zones in the direction of your setup.
- Don’t buy just because it’s “oversold.” Wait for the turn plus a higher low (for longs) or lower high (for shorts) in price.
- If stochastics fire early but price hasn’t broken your pattern level, wait—price action confirms the indicator, not the other way around.
- Avoid mid-band entries (40–60). If the band is flat, you lack edge.
- On strong trend days, use shallow rotations (stochastics don’t need to reach extremes) as continuation triggers near the 20 EMA.
Stops & Exits: Mechanical, Not Emotional
John treats stops and targets as part of the setup, not an afterthought. These rules help you codify exactly where you’re wrong and where you’ll take money.
- Place the initial stop just beyond the price pivot that created your signal (flag low/high, divergence pivot, or trendline retest).
- First take-profit at the nearest logical magnet: the 20 EMA on counter-trend faders, prior swing high/low on trend trades.
- Scale out 50–70% at TP1; move stop to break-even + fees once TP1 hits.
- Let a runner trail behind the 20 EMA or a structure-based stop (higher low/lower high).
- If price closes back through your entry without progress and stochastics flatten, scratch early—capital > ego.
Multi-Timeframe Confluence: Stack the Odds
He looks for alignment across timeframes to avoid fighting bigger flows. Use this to cut false starts and nail cleaner rotations.
- Define bias on a higher timeframe (e.g., 30–60m); only take lower-TF signals that agree with that bias.
- For counter-trend fades, demand stronger evidence: clean divergence + level + rotation.
- Trade toward higher-TF magnets (VWAP, prior day’s H/L, 20/50 EMA) rather than into them.
- If a higher timeframe is range-bound, trade range edges only; skip the middle.
- No alignment? Pass. Confluence is a filter, not a suggestion.
Position Sizing: Volatility-Based, Not Vibes-Based
Sizing changes with volatility and setup quality. These rules keep your risk steady while letting winners matter.
- Risk a fixed % per trade (e.g., 0.25–0.5% of account) and adjust share/contract count to the stop distance.
- Increase to 1.0×–1.5× your base risk only when you have full confluence (higher-TF bias + A-setup + clean rotation).
- On opening drives or news spikes, halve size unless structure stabilizes.
- Hard cap: three losses in a session or –1.5R realized—then stop trading for the day.
- Never add to losers; add only on planned scale-ins at structure (e.g., partial fill at EMA touch with the same invalidation).
Trade Management: From Entry to Exit Without Drama
The edge compounds when you manage trades consistently. Here’s a clear, boring process that keeps you out of trouble.
- After entry, set OCO (bracket) orders immediately; no “mental” stops.
- If price stalls near TP1 and stochastics roll against you, front-run a partial exit—protect green trades.
- If the trade rips in your favor, trail a structure stop (last swing) rather than a fixed tick.
- On reversal patterns against you (engulfing, break of structure), exit without negotiation.
- Log R multiple, entry reason, exit reason, and whether you followed the plan—every time.
Daily Routine: Preparation Creates the A-Setups
John’s calm execution comes from predictable prep. This routine gives you the same clarity before the bell.
- Pre-market: mark overnight high/low, prior day H/L, VWAP, and key moving averages on the higher timeframe.
- Build a two-column plan: continuation scenarios and fade scenarios, each with conditions that must be present.
- Choose two primary instruments maximum for the session; depth beats breadth.
- First 15–30 minutes: observe impulse, note breadth/volatility, then trade the first pullback, not the initial spike.
- Midday: reduce size or stand down unless the market is trending cleanly.
Avoiding Chop: Filters That Save Your Week
Most damage comes from forcing trades in bad conditions. These filters help you spot those conditions early and keep powder dry.
- Skip when price is parked at VWAP with overlapping candles and flat stochastics.
- Skip when your instrument trades inside a narrow IB (initial balance) and rejects both edges repeatedly.
- Skip after two scratches and one small loss in a row—conditions likely changed.
- Skip during major news unless you’re a news trader with a tested playbook.
- Resume only when a fresh pattern + rotation appears at a meaningful level.
Playbook Examples: Turning Patterns Into Checklists
Checklist trading reduces hesitation. Use these ready-to-go rules to execute like a pro.
- Bull Flag Continuation (Long):
- Prior impulse up + price > 20 EMA; flag forms with lower volume and higher lows.
- Stochastics rotate up from mid/oversold; enter on flag break; stop below flag low; TP1 at prior high; runner trails 20 EMA.
- Bear Flag Continuation (Short):
- Prior impulse down + price < 20 EMA; tight flag with lower highs.
- Stochastics rotate down from mid/overbought; enter on flag break; stop above flag high; TP1 at prior low; runner trails 20 EMA.
- Bullish Divergence Reversal (Long):
- Price makes a marginal lower low into a marked support; stochastics higher low.
- Enter on stochastic cross up + reclaim of breakdown candle high; stop below divergence pivot; TP1 at 20 EMA, TP2 at prior swing.
- Trendline Retest (Either Direction):
- Break of a well-tested line; wait for retest with opposite-color candle rejection.
- Enter on rejection, close with supportive rotation; stop beyond the retest wick; target the next structure level.
Mindset & Discipline: Process Over Prediction
He trusts mechanics more than opinions. Your job is to show up, recognize the pattern, and execute the rules you wrote.
- Define what you trade (instruments, timeframes, setups) and say “no” to everything else.
- Cap daily trades (e.g., 5 tickets max) to prevent overtrading in chop.
- Rate each trade A/B/C post-facto; only A-setups may be scaled in size.
- If you break a rule, take a one-trade timeout and write the fix.
- Protect your mental capital: the next A-setup deserves you at full focus.
Size risk first, trade second: fixed risk rules for survival
John Kurisko’s first move isn’t scanning for entries—it’s setting max loss per trade so the day can’t spiral. He fixes a small, repeatable % of equity per idea, then backs into size from the stop distance, never the other way around. If the stop needs to be wider because volatility is hot, he simply takes fewer shares or stands down; the risk unit never expands to “make it work.” That discipline keeps him emotionally neutral, because every trade has the same potential pain before he even clicks.
Kurisko also caps the day: three strikes or a hard daily max, and he’s done, which protects mental capital as much as the account. He won’t average down losers; the only adds are pre-planned scale-ins at structure with the same invalidation. When the first target hits, he scales and moves to break-even plus fees, turning the rest into a free option on trend continuation. The result is boring math that wins over time—entries will vary, but the risk stays fixed, and that’s how he survives long enough to compound.
Use volatility to adjust size, targets, and your patience.
John Kurisko treats volatility like the volume knob on every decision he makes. When ranges expand, he cuts position size, widens stops to just beyond structure, and expects faster rotations; when markets compress, he takes smaller targets, tighter stops, and fewer trades. He’ll often key off an ATR or recent swing range to define whether a “normal” pullback is two points or ten, and he sizes so one loss still equals a fixed R.
Kurisko also stretches his patience in wild tape and shortens it in chop. In high volatility, he lets winners breathe and scales out later; in low volatility, he front-runs partials and refuses to let a green trade turn red. The bottom line is simple: volatility sets the tempo—your size, your target, and your hold time must match the music.
Diversify by setup, timeframe, and instrument—not by random trades.
John Kurisko doesn’t spread himself thin; he diversifies by repeating a small number of vetted setups across multiple timeframes and instruments. If his momentum rotation isn’t there on the index future, he checks a leading large-cap or sector ETF—same play, different vehicle. The goal is to keep the edge constant while rotating the canvas, not to invent new trades to stay busy. He defines a primary timeframe for signals and a higher timeframe for bias, then mirrors that structure on a second instrument to double opportunities without doubling noise.
Kurisko’s rule is to avoid “variety for variety’s sake.” He tracks performance by setup and by timeframe, so he knows where his R comes from, and he prunes anything that drifts. If one instrument goes dead, he switches to another with cleaner rotations rather than forcing fills. That way, diversification becomes an amplifier of proven mechanics, not a grab bag of unrelated bets.
Let mechanics beat predictions: momentum rotations, clean entries, defined exits.
John Kurisko doesn’t guess where the market will be in an hour; he reacts to what it’s doing now. He waits for momentum to rotate—stochastics or a similar trigger turning up or down at a level—then executes on the break of structure, not on a hunch. The entry is clean because the trigger and the price pattern agree, and the stop is obvious because it sits just beyond the pivot that produced the signal. No rotation, no trade; no alignment, no click.
Kurisko’s exits are just as mechanical. First target is the nearest logical magnet—prior swing, VWAP, or the 20 EMA—then he scales and trails the rest behind the structure. If momentum stalls or flips against him, he’s out without negotiation, even if the idea “still feels good.” The process removes ego, so the system can do the heavy lifting while he focuses on execution.
Process discipline daily: premarket plan, three strikes, walk away
John Kurisko treats the premarket like a pilot’s checklist—no wheels up without it. He maps overnight high/low, prior day’s key levels, and defines the bias before the bell, so he isn’t guessing in the open. His first objective is to identify the A-setup he’ll trade and the exact invalidation that will get him out; everything else is noise. By deciding this early, Kurisko shows up ready to execute a plan, not ready to improvise a narrative.
Once the session starts, John Kurisko enforces a simple operating code: three strikes or a daily max, and he powers down. He logs each trade immediately—reason, risk, outcome—to preserve feedback and prevent revenge trading. If the tape turns choppy or he violates a rule, he takes a hard timeout and resets instead of trying to “win it back.” The point is to protect mental capital so the next clean setup gets his best focus, and he can come back tomorrow with a clear head.
John Kurisko’s edge is built on disciplined mechanics, not prediction. He reads momentum first—especially clean stochastic rotations and true divergences—and only acts when price structure confirms the signal. From the opening drive to midday lull, he looks for the same few patterns over and over: the 20/20 flag continuation, divergence reversals at meaningful levels, and trendline break-retests with momentum agreement. Entries are clean (pattern + rotation), stops are defined just beyond the pivot that produced the signal, and targets aim for logical magnets like prior swings, VWAP, or the 20 EMA. If volatility expands, he simply reduces size and widens breathing room; if the tape compresses, he tightens stops, takes quicker profits, and trades less.
Equally important, John Kurisko enforces a process that protects both capital and focus. He sizes every trade off a fixed risk unit, never adds to losers, scales at first target, and trails behind structure so runners can work. He stacks multi-timeframe confluence to avoid forcing trades, diversifies by applying the same proven setup across a couple of liquid instruments, and walks away after a small number of losses or when conditions turn choppy. The result is a calm, repeatable routine: plan levels premarket, wait for momentum to rotate at structure, execute the checklist, log the outcome, and be ready for the next A-setup.
